She frowns and nods at me.
"What trouble have you gotten into now, Dot?" She waves her hand and walks away. "Don't tell me! I don't want to know!"
"You're a gem among gems, Lucia," Dot calls after her.
"I know, I know...."
Kara is already biting into a muffin.
"Did you see that?" I ask. "Just like the old neighborhood." Kara doesn't answer, but I'm feeling better already. "Now on to Francis Street."
"Francis Street?" Dot says. "Let me check." She pauses, her eyes becoming unfocused for a moment. "No, I was right. No Francis Street in Boston."
Chapter 22
I thought maybe the street had been renamed or that Dot was simply wrong. So I gave her directions and told her to look for certain landmarks, and now I stand where my whole neighborhood once stood. It is not just Francis Street that's gone, but the street over from it, and the next one, and the next.
All gone. Massive transgrid pilings drill into the earth where there used to be a house. My house. Or my neighbor's. It's hard to know exactly where I'm standing with everything gone. My only point of reference is the river across the way from it all, and even that has changed. High walls border it now. Dot told us that ocean levels have risen so much, most of Boston is below sea level now and has to be protected by a levee system.
"Come back in the car," Kara calls. "Let's go!"
I remember my iScroll and as a last resort turn it on, hoping there's a search app I don't know about. Maybe there's some mistake. Maybe I'm just not remembering right. It's been so long.
"Jenkins. Francis Street."
There is no response. The only thing my iScroll is programmed for are the shallow games that Dr. Gatsbro used to keep a gullible boy distracted. I picture his bloody head on the floor of the study again and feel none of the remorse of yesterday.
I stare, unable to leave. I know looking at ramps and pilings won't make my old life appear or bring back my family, but I search for anything, maybe just something in the air that still holds traces of my life. I don't believe in ghosts, but I can almost hear my mom calling me in for dinner. Locke! Dinnertime. Your turn to set the table. I can almost laugh at how naive I was. Miesha's right, I am just a boy. I half believed that my distant nieces or nephews would be right here, strolling the same streets. That I'd spot one who looked just like my brother or sister. They would spot me. We would recognize something familiar in each other. I'd go home and have dinner with them. That--
That there would be something.
"Locke! We're going to leave without you if you don't get back in the car right now."
Kara's right. We need to go. We need to find something to help us survive, and there's nothing here.
The trip across town is fast. Dot is able to use the commercial lanes that dump us right into the heart of the old city. The immediate waterfront has been spared the ugly levee walls. Instead, they are situated farther out in the harbor. The streets are still packed with tourists, and the street names are still the same. This bodes well for Kara.
"Turn here," Kara says. She leans forward, stretching, taking in every detail, like she is searching for a niece or nephew too. Or maybe something else.
Dot stops the car.
"What are you doing?" Kara demands.
"The street is closed ahead. Pedestrian traffic only. Fewer flattened Eaters and Breathers that way. But I can--"
"What are you talking about?" But Kara doesn't wait for an answer. She is already throwing her door open.
"We'll be back," I tell Dot. I hurry after Kara and call over my shoulder to Dot, "Meet you back here, okay?" I don't wait to see if Dot nods. I am rushing to catch up with Kara. I fall into step beside her like I know where we're going. The clothing and hairstyles of those passing us have changed, but people still look like people, and the streets are still crowded. "I think we almost fit in."
Kara stares straight ahead, ignoring the people around us. "We do fit in. We have every right to be here. Just you wait." Her voice is distant, like she is talking to someone else. Like she is someone I don't even know. This is the Kara that frightens me.
I grab her hand. "Kara, your house was over that way--"
She stops and faces me, tilting her head to the side. "You think I don't know where I live, Locke? It's morning. My mom would be at work. The firm is over this--"
"Kara. Your mom--" But I can't finish. Her eyes are cutting through me. Your mom won't be at work. She knows that. She has to. I squeeze her hand and nod. "Sorry. You lead the way."
A half block away, the truth is revealed, so I don't have to say anything. There is no sign. No firm. No help. The historic building is still there, but Brown, Kirk, and Manning is gone. Kara inquires inside.